BREVARD, N.C. – Sophomore guard LB Boyette scored a career-high 31 points as the Brevard College men's basketball team (2-6, 1-0 USAS) earned a double-overtime win in its USA South Conference opener, 104-98, over Berea College (3-5,0-1 USAS) on Saturday afternoon at the Boshamer Gymnasium.
Boyette, a second-year product of Charlotte, North Carolina, enjoyed a near-flawless performance offensively with 31 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, while making four 3-pointers and going a perfect 11-for-11 from the charity stripe. Senior forward Alex Wesig added 14 points, four assists, three blocks, and two steals, while David Sealy scored in double figures off the bench with 13 points.
BC's bench outpaced Berea's, 40-3, as Quincy Carter (nine points), Luke Bleynat (seven points), Chancey Watson (six points), and Hayden Cassell (six points) all contributed heavily alongside Sealy in reserve action. Brevard's bench grabbed 22 of the Tornados' 47 total rebounds, with Cassell hauling down six alongside Carter and Watson, who totaled five boards each. Carter dished out four assists and totaled a team-best four steals defensively.
Brevard's 104 points are a DIII-era program high for a single game, and rank third all-time in BC's NCAA era. The Tornados' 104 point total was the program's most since a triple-overtime victory over Mars Hill University, 107-104, on February 25, 2015, and are its most single-game points inside of the Boshamer Gymnasium in NCAA-era history.
Berea's offense was paced by four double-digit scorers, led by Kevion Hudson and Trey Minter, who each totaled 28 points. Isaac Caudill added 19 points while Terique Miller scored 18.
Brevard made 35 field goals and 12 3-pointers, shooting 50% from the field and 44% from beyond the arc. The Tornados were able to outrebound Berea 47-42 while dishing out 18 assists and scoring 44 points in the paint. The highly-contested matchup featured 13 ties and six lead changes.
The Mountaineers led 10-8 through the first media timeout, with both sides draining a pair of 3-pointers each. The score remained tight, 18-16, as a Wesig block triggered the under-12 media timeout with the Tornados down by two. A Boyette and-one shot gave the Tornados their first lead at the 10:55 mark, 19-18.
With the score 21-20 in favor of Brevard, the Tornados used a 12-0 scoring run capped by a Carter jumper ballooned BC's advantage to a 33-20 margin with 7:04 left in the first half. Brevard kept its lead at double digits, 37-26, with 3:51 left in the first stanza, but a 13-4 Mountaineer scoring stretch cut the Tornado advantage to just two points, 41-39, with 1:13 left in the half. Garrett Sutherland was able to hit a 3-pointer followed by a Wesig layup and a pair of Boyette free throws helped Brevard take a six-point cushion, 48-42, into the halftime locker rooms.
Boyette led all Tornados with 12 points at the break, while Sutherland and Carter added seven points into the mix. Sutherland grabbed a team-best four boards in the first half as Wesig distributed four assists.
Brevard maintained its lead, 55-51, heading into the under-16 media timeout. After a Boyette 3-pointer made the score 58-51, Berea rallied off 10 straight points to retake the lead, 61-58, at the 12:23 mark. Brevard knotted the contest back up, 64-64 when Carter jumped a passing lane and went coast-to-coast with a fastbreak layup.
The Tornados carried that momentum forward with an 11-2 scoring run capped by a Watson putback layup that made the score 75-66 with four minutes to play. Berea used its own 11-2 run over the next two-plus minutes to tie the contest at 77 apiece with 1:46 left on the clock. A critical Cassell and-one jumper in the paint put the Tornados back on top, 80-77, but Berea used a pair of free throws and a 3-pointer – all from Caudill – to regain the lead 82-80 with just six seconds left to play. Following a timeout, the Tornados used a driving layup from Wesig as time expired to send the contest into overtime, with the score all square at 82.
Men's Basketball: Brevard 82, Berea 82, End of regulation at The Bosh. CLUTCH! @BrevardMbb's Alex Wesig ties it up as we head to overtime! #NadoNation #d3hoops pic.twitter.com/kkdQfRgVmY
— Brevard College Athletics (@BCTornados) December 11, 2021
Boyette totaled a team-high 10 points in the second half in only eight minutes of game action. Carter added five boards and a pair of critical steals on the defensive end.
Both sides traded points through the first minutes of the first overtime before Sealy drained a 3-pointer with 1:52 left. Hudson answered right back with a three of his own at the 1:33 mark, but Brevard retook the lead with a pair of Boyette free throws. After Berea's Hudson went 1-for-2 at the line, Boyette drilled a long-range bucket to give Tornados a four-point advantage, 92-88, with 32 seconds left to play.
Berea's Caudill went 1-for-2 at the line after being fouled, cutting the Tornado lead to three with 24 seconds left. A Brevard turnover after the inbounds, however, turned into a Minter three-point play that tied the game at 92. Berea forced an offensive foul in the last seconds, sending the game to a second overtime period.
Both sides scored four points each through the first three minutes of overtime number two. After a pair of Minter free throw makes, Charles Reed drilled his first 3-pointer of the afternoon to give the Tornados a one-point lead, 99-98. Reed hit a pair of free throws after being fouled following his rebound on Berea's possession to give Brevard a three-point advantage, 101-98, with 56 seconds left to play.
Boyette hit a pair of free throws to surpass the 30-point mark for the first time in his collegiate career, while Sealy added a free throw make to help ice the instant classic in favor of the Tornados, 104-98.
Brevard returns to play with an exhibition matchup on the road in Spartanburg, South Carolina at NCAA DI USC Upstate next Saturday, December 18 at 4 p.m. The Tornados return home on New Year's Eve to face Ferrum College on Friday, December 31 at 2 p.m.
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